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Great Lakes, Mississippi split sought to fend off invasive carp

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - Six attorneys general in the Great
Lakes region called for a multi-state coalition Wednesday that
would push the federal government to protect the lakes from
invasive species such as Asian carp by cutting off their artificial
link to the Mississippi River basin.

In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, the officials
invited colleagues in 27 other states to join a lobbying campaign
to separate the two watersheds, contending they have as much to
lose as the Great Lakes do from migration of aquatic plants and
animals that can do billions in economic damage and starve out
native species.

"We have Asian carp coming into Lake Michigan and zebra mussels
moving out of the Great Lakes and into the heart of our country,
both of which are like poison to the ecology of our waters," Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said. "This is not just a
Great Lakes issue. By working together, we hope to put pressure on
the federal government to act before it's too late."

Also signing the appeal were attorneys general from Minnesota,
New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. It was being sent to
their counterparts across the Mississippi basin as well as Western
states such as Nevada, where Lake Mead and other waterways have
been infested by zebra mussels believed to have been transported
from the Great Lakes by unwitting recreational boaters.

Five of the Great Lakes states are suing the Army Corps over its
operation of a Chicago-area waterway network that creates an
artificial pathway between Lake Michigan and the Illinois River, a
Mississippi River tributary. Bighead and silver carp, natives of
Asia, have advanced up both rivers and are in Chicago Sanitary and
Ship Canal, where the Army Corps operates electric barriers about
25 miles from Lake Michigan to prevent species migration.

DNA from the carp has been detected beyond the barriers, raising
fears that some of the large, voracious fish might be getting
through, although just one has been caught.

The Army Corps and other agencies are studying the barriers'
effectiveness and monitoring the waterways for the presence of carp
while conducting a long-range study of how best to prevent species
migrations between the two drainage basins. Among the options is
severing the link created more than a century ago by reversing the
flow of the Chicago River and constructing the canal.

But the study isn't scheduled for completion until 2015, and it
could take many additional years to reconstruct the waterway. In
their lawsuit, the states demand a quicker timetable.

Schuette said the attorneys general weren't asking their
colleagues in other states to join the lawsuit, but to help ratchet
up the pressure on the Army Corps.

"They can work with their congressional delegation, use their
contacts with the Army Corps, with their governors," he said. "We
need to turn up the heat."

Asian carp have attracted wide attention because of their size -
up to 4 feet long and 100 pounds - and destructive potential.
Biologists say if they become established in the Great Lakes, they
could damage a $7 billion-a-year fishing industry by gobbling up tiny
plants and animals on which the entire food chain depends.

But zebra and quagga mussels have already ravaged the lakes, and
the Army Corps this summer released a list of 40 other invasive
species with a high potential of slipping between the Mississippi
and Great Lakes basins. Of those, 30 threaten to enter the
Mississippi watershed.

"Invasive species ... are a potential hazard to every waterway
and every state in the country," Pennsylvania Attorney General
Linda Kelly said.

Spokeswoman Jacqueline Tate said the Army Corps had not seen the
attorneys generals' letter and had no immediate comment. Officials
with the Corps have said repeatedly they could not speed up the
study because of the complex scientific and engineering issues
involved. It's examining dozens of potential aquatic pathways, not
just the Chicago area.